Many people associate emotional intelligence (EI) with humans, but there is actually some evidence to suggest that other species possess it as well. While scientists have not been able to prove that cats are emotionally intelligent, they do believe that individual variations in behavior can be linked to something beyond pure instinct.

Certain behavioral patterns of animals seem to correlate with their internal experiences. For example, dogs who experience frequent separations from their owners tend to become more active when they next meet up with them. This activity is sometimes referred to as separation seeking or separation anxiety.

Similarly, horses that get separated from their companions show increased activity levels by exploring surrounding areas and looking for their partner. When they finally find each other, they greet each other with interest and enthusiasm!

These examples describe what researchers call cognitive processes. They refer to thinking about yourself and your environment and figuring out how to manage your resources (in this case, time and energy). More advanced versions of cognitive processing include considering consequences and taking decisions based on whether you feel like moving forward or staying put.

Emotional processes focus on your feelings towards someone or something. These could be positive or negative emotions, such as happiness, sadness, fear, anger, etc.

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Luckily, we don’t always need to think before we act. Some parts of our brains help us deal with emotional processes automatically without too much effort. We may also be born with certain strengths that help us relate to others and understand their needs.

Factors that affect our emotional intelligence

A lot of people think that being intelligent means having an extensive knowledge base and being able to apply it in various areas, but that is not the only factor for determining if someone is intelligent.

Being smart is more than just knowing how to use information efficiently – it is also understanding why you know this information and applying what you already know to new situations. This type of thinking or ability is referred to as cognitive intelligence.

It is estimated that over half of all humans have low levels of cognitive intelligence. These individuals are easily distracted, can’t retain information for longer than a few minutes, and struggle with time frames.

They may also unknowingly contribute to a situation by offering false explanations or conclusions when asked about something. While these behaviors may be helpful in some contexts, they can hurt your relationships and career.

People who are highly motivated and engaged in their jobs and personal lives typically have higher levels of cognitive intelligence. Because they are careful with things and take time to understand concepts, they are easier to work with.

On the other hand, individuals with high levels of cognitive intelligence may sometimes feel overwhelmed due to their need for detail. They may spend too much time analyzing everything and forgetting to focus on the present moment.

Relationship between emotional intelligence and happiness

Over the past few years, researchers have increasingly focused their attention on the link between emotional quotient (EQ) and overall well-being in humans. EQ is also referred to as emotional literacy or emotional competence.

Most studies agree that higher levels of emotional intelligence are related to greater feelings of self-confidence and satisfaction with your life.

Emotional intelligence can be influenced by many things including early experiences, education, socialization, genetics, and lifestyle choices.

However, most research focuses on it as a variable that can be improved through training. There are several strategies you can use to improve your emotional intelligence level.

You may want to try developing your emotional awareness or understanding of emotions, practicing acceptance and regulation of emotions, mastering your perception and interpretation of situations, taking responsibility for your own reactions to people and events, and improving relationship skills.

Ways to improve our emotional intelligence

Being emotionally intelligent is great, but only if you know how to use your emotions productively. It is important to realize that not every emotion is good for you or someone else.

Many people believe that by using certain emotions they can achieve something. For example, some feel that being angry makes them strong so they go ahead with their plan even when things get tough.

Alternatively, some think that being happy all the time is best because then others will make sure they are never left alone.

Both of these examples are wrong! Using certain feelings for yourself is like eating junk food- it may taste wonderful at first, but eventually you’ll be too bloated up to do anything. You’d probably end up getting sick later.

Similarly, relying on certain feelings for other people is just plain mean. If someone does something bad to you, try to stay calm before you unleash all of your pent-up anger on them.

That way, they won’t hurt you as much. Also, if someone has done something good for you, don’t overreact and praise them too loudly- he or she might hear about it and be discouraged.

Instead, keep what happened a secret and enjoy the gift without letting anyone know about it. Then you’ve saved another person’s reputation and you’ve still praised him/her appropriately.

Doing things that boost our emotional intelligence

Sometimes referred to as empathizing or understanding emotions, this is asking yourself how you feel about something and what those around you are feeling.

This can be done by looking at the signs they give away and reading between the lines with someone else's conversation or behavior. It also means being aware of your own feelings and how you're feeling about something.

Using emotion regulation strategies is another way to strengthen your emotional intelligence. These help you control your reactions to situations so you can handle them more effectively.

Some examples of ways to do this include trying to ignore something, putting effort into changing the situation, thinking about other things, talking about it, etc.

Emotional intelligence has been linked to overall happiness and success in life. People who have high emotional intelligence tend to be happier than people with low emotional intelligence.

It also helps us succeed in life because we understand relationships better and know how to manage them.

Talk to your friends about your feelings

Sometimes, however, emotional intelligence is getting things done via verbalization of emotions. This is not talking about what you feel but instead using words to describe how you feel. For example, if someone says something that makes you mad, you can take them aside and tell them just why they made you angry and possibly work out a solution or move forward with the conversation from there.

If they try to defend themselves, walk away! There are too many situations in this world where arguments do more harm than good. If you have tried negotiating with somebody and it doesn’t seem to be working, walking away may be the best option. You will come back later when you're calm and able to deal with the situation.

Stay calm and collected

Sometimes, even though you may want to go crazy when your dog does something annoying, you have to hold it together.

Cat owners are no different! When your cat is doing something that seems wrong or scary, stay calm and try to understand what they're trying to tell you.

It could be because she needs help with a problem she was trying to solve, like hiding her litter box in the bathroom. Or perhaps she wants food she's not getting elsewhere, so she's exploring other sources for it.

Whatever the reason, remember that most cats being social creatures need positive interactions with people to feel comfortable around them. So if you can show some compassion and understanding, then your cat will let you know how much that means to her.

At this stage, the best thing to do might be to wait it out and see if the behavior stops on its own. If it doesn't, then take some time to distract her, give her comforting touches, and/or look at pictures of similar-looking animals to get her feeling more relaxed.

Hopefully, over time, your feline friend will learn to appreciate humans more as things change and shift, just like any other creature would.

Think about your feelings before acting on them

Sometimes, even though you might be able to tell that something is wrong, it’s still too hard for your body to agree with your brain.

A lot of times, we don’t know how to process our emotions so they can fully run their course. We hold onto things longer than necessary because we're not sure what to do with them.

We may also forget why we had those feelings in the first place. It's easy to get distracted or feel like there are more important things to focus on, which makes it harder to deal with your emotional state.

In these cases, it can be helpful to take some time to think about your feelings before responding. You should try to separate the person from the thing that made you feel that way.

This helps you avoid giving in more quickly when someone else provokes you, and it helps you recognize and acknowledge your own feelings instead of reacting on instinct.

Be realistic

A lot of people consider themselves to be emotionally intelligent, but actually being able to identify and control your emotions is something that really only comes after years of practice.

Some people seem more emotional than others, but they are just not using their emotion skills properly.

Emotional intelligence (or EI for short) means knowing how to use your feelings to help you achieve your goals.

For example, if you want someone to like you, then it makes sense to feel happy when they do. If you want them to leave you, then try feeling sad so that you give up or lose interest in them.

There are many theories about what makes someone have high levels of emotional intelligence, but no one certainty factor exists.

A good way to test yourself is to ask yourself whether you would agree with the following statements as a measure of your emotional intelligence. Check out how much you agree with each statement and assign a score either plus or minus depending on how strongly you agreed with the statement.

Here are 10 questions to determine your emotional quotient:

1. I usually know how I feel about things

2. It’s easy for me to read other people

3. I am always prepared for life's challenges

4. I spend a fair amount of time thinking about past mistakes

5. I don’t worry too much about things that may go wrong

6.